Unusual
by Who-Wouldn't-Waver-With-You
Summary: Sandle oneshot. Greg and Sara have an unusual friendship. Sara can't define it. She seeks him for comfort when things get tough. SANDLE with a hint of GSR eww . Spoilers for S8E7 and the season 10 finale.


**Spoilers for Season 8 Episode 7 (Goodbye & Good Luck) and the Season 10 finale. ****OK, so I slightly rewrote how Goodbye & Good Luck ends. But anyway, I hope you guys like this! If you want a soundtrack then listen to any version of Unusual, from Nine. Nicole Kidman's version is my personal favourite. _Italics_ are song lyrics.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Greg or Sara or CSI. If I did, then I would be happily living off my royalties on a desert island with Greg. :) So yeah, this is not for profit. :/**

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She always remembered the taste of his lips. That one night they spent together, one night of weakness, had haunted her for the past two years.

_In a very unusual way one time I needed you…_

Need. Such a powerful feeling, yet so indefinable. He was her best friend. She turned to him when things got her down. And they had been getting her down a lot back then, and he was the only one who knew. So when Ronnie found Sara's vest in her locker, with the name tag ripped off, he understood. Grissom had just gone out of town to a lecture in Chicago. He was away for the weekend. Nobody else could comprehend Sara's actions. Perhaps even Grissom himself wouldn't have understood.

When she didn't go into work her phone began to ring. Ronnie. Then her supervisor. She let it ring.

She hid her face from the world and tried not to watch the clock. She felt her eyes burn as the hands both turned to 12am, the beginning of her old graveyard shift. Her friends would be finding out about her absence now. Her phone rang again: Catherine. Then Nick.

She let her eyelids fall.

And then he was there.

The doorbell rang and she knew. She knew it would be him. Simultaneously her heart leapt and her stomach dropped. He would ask questions. He would make her face reality. He would try to reason with her.

But he was Greg.

So she dragged herself from bed and opened the door.

"Greg." She couldn't look at him. Her gaze fell to her feet.

"Sara."

He stepped straight over the threshold and enveloped her in a hug. Surprised, she let the door swing shut behind him.

"I know why. I heard about the case."

She finally responded to his embrace, wrapping her arms around him. Her fingers clutched into his jacket as she buried her face in his neck.

_Something inside me goes weak,_

_Something inside me surrenders._

Tears began to fall, hot and bitter. She could not find the words to explain, but she knew she didn't have to. He held her while she shook, let her soak his collar, and Sara let go of everything that had built up within her, everything she had been through in the past eight years. It felt like a storm was raging around her, and she clung to Greg as if to a lifeline.

And then, suddenly, everything was still. She relaxed her hands and let one drift to the nape of his neck, her fingers playing in his hair. She moved back in his arms and looked up at him. His brown eyes reflected her pain. Sara knew he hated to see her hurt like this. His expression was soft as he looked down at her.

_You can't tell what its like to be me looking at you._

Her mind was blank. There was only now. They were so close. She let her gaze fall to his mouth, and he unconsciously licked his lips. His breath, scented with Blue Hawaiian, was hot on her face. She leant up, slowly, and met his lips with her own. After a moment of stillness he responded, softly kissing away the taste of her tears.

No words were spoken. He stayed the next day until the sun began to fall again.

_Maybe it lasted a day, maybe it lasted an hour._

_But, somehow it will never end._

For a little while she let herself forget.

Then, with one last kiss, one last look that said it all, he was gone.

So Sara packed her things and left town.

_In a very unusual way I owe what I am to you._

_Though at times it appears I won't stay, I never go._

And everything with Greg went back to normal. Because really, nothing had changed, had it?

_In a very unusual way you were my friend…_

**x x x**

As they left Nick in the hospital Greg held the door open for Catherine and then Sara. As she passed him, Greg let his hand brush the small of Sara's back, guiding her through the door. His touch sent electricity through her, like it had that night so long ago. She remembered his fingers on her skin, gentle, sensual. She turned her head and caught his eye as he followed her out of the hospital room. In that look, with the heightened emotion of the day acting as a catalyst, Sara felt all of her suppressed feelings reignite. As they walked together after Catherine towards the parking lot, Sara trailed one finger down the back of Greg's hand.

_How could I ever forget you, _

_Once you had touched my soul?_

Catherine peeled off, waving over her shoulder. Greg followed Sara to her car, where they paused. She could feel his eyes on her back.

_Something inside me surrenders._

_And you're the reason why._

Turning slowly she looked at him. He was smiling gently, hope lighting his eyes, giving him that boyish look she hadn't seen on him in a long time. She smiled back - how could she not?

_You can't tell what its like to be me looking at you._

It was all the invitation he needed. He took the step that separated them and kissed her, hard, pressing her up against the side of her car. This was not the gentle, comforting kiss of two years before. This was a simple celebration of life and survival. It was passionate and unforgiving. It was honest.

_It scares me so, that I can hardly speak._

She drove them to her apartment, letting him play with her hand whenever she wasn't using it to steer. They barely made it inside before Greg was kissing her again, pushing her back against her door, attacking her neck with his mouth, as she pushed his jacket off his shoulders.

_You don't know what you do to me,_

_You don't have a clue._

Lying in his arms amongst the tangled sheets, Sara looked at Greg as he traced patterns on her arm. His hair glowed golden like a crown, a halo in the sunset. He was her king, her angel, for this brief period of stolen time.

_In a very unusual way I think I'm in love with you._

_In a very unusual way I want to cry._

His chocolate eyes met hers and she felt tears begin to fall. He didn't ask why, he just held her a little closer, a little tighter, tucking her head into his neck, an echo of their pose two years before. He kissed her hair while she mourned for a love that could never exist.

_Special to me in my life, _

_Since the first day that I met you._

She walked Greg to the door the next morning, trying not to break the silence with words that would shatter their crystalline moment and ruin everything with reality. He stepped outside and turned to face her. Nervously she glanced down, turning her wedding ring out of habit. He followed her gaze and for a moment they both looked at the tiny but insurmountable obstacle between them. Then Greg gently cupped Sara's chin, bringing her face up to him again. He gave her a sad smile before kissing her softly one more time. Sara stood still, eyes closed, for a few seconds after the kiss. When she opened them again, he was gone.

_In a very unusual way you've made me whole._

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**xXx**


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